Paracetamol aids cancer patients: study

The prescription of paracetamol to advanced cancer patients can help reduce their pain by up to 25 per cent, Australian researchers have discovered.

At the national oncology conference in Perth today, scientists from the University of Sydney will present evidence that paracetamol significantly reduces pain, and increases the well-being of cancer patients.

Dr Martin Stockler, from the University's department of Medicine and School of Public Health, designed a study to test whether the use of paracetamol, in conjunction with stronger pain killers, helped patients.

And the research, which it is hoped will be published in the American Cancer Journal in the coming months, showed positive results.

"Even when patients are on strong pain killers they often have substantial residual pain," Dr Stockler said.

"What the research showed was when the people were on the paracetamol their pain scores were better and their overall well-being was better as well - so it showed it obviously did do something."

Studies were carried out on 30 patients with varying types of cancer, including prostate and breast tumours.

The research, supported by a grant from the Cancer Council of NSW, asked the patient to rate their pain on a scale of one to 10.

Random prescriptions of paracetamol and a placebo were given to the patients - with just under half saying they felt better when they were given paracetamol.

After an average pain score of 3.8 in all the patients, when asked again to rate their pain after taking the paracetamol the score had dropped between one half and one point.

"If we talk about that the way we talk about improvements in chemotherapy, that would be a 25 per cent reduction - a quarter of what the baseline was," Dr Stockler said.

"The well-being score went up one half to one point on same template."

Dr Stockler said there were no side-effects associated with taking paracetamol alongside other drugs.

"The rationale is that it does not have any side effects that other classes of drugs have, and also it is very safe and of course, very cheap.

"The main nuisance value is that patients have to take eight tablets a day.

"But what the research shows is that it is worth trying, and if they don't like it they can stop it and there is nothing much else to lose."